NEW: RI Taxpayers Speak Out Against Immigrant Drivers’ Licenses

Governor Lincoln Chafee this week requested the introduction of a bill that would give special drivers' licenses to undocumented immigrants. Today, Rhode Island Taxpayers, an advocacy group with the mission for honest, effective, and fiscally sound government on behalf of Rhode Island taxpayers, spoke out against the bill.

“Rhode Island's unemployment rate ticked up in December to the highest in the country,” pointed out R.I. Taxpayers spokesperson Monique Chartier. “It is stunning that the response of the Governor and advocates in the General Assembly is to make it easier for illegal aliens to take jobs away from legal immigrants and US citizens.”

RI Taxpayers also suggest that illegal immigration represents a very real financial burden to taxpayers at both the local and state level. While Rhode Island officials have not put a figure on the cost to local and state taxpayers of education, uncompensated healthcare and other services provided to undocumented immigrants, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimated this cost in 2010 at $278,000,000.

“Of course, Rhode Island cannot make immigration policy or single-handedly solve the national problem of illegal immigration. But we can do a lot to mitigate its impact on our state's employment rate and already over-burdened budgets with some very reasonable policy measures that discourage illegal immigration into the state,” Chartier stressed.

"It is a logical step only if the goal is to exacerbate the state's unemployment rate and budget woes," Chartier emphasized. "Drivers licenses for illegal aliens are a complete non-starter. Our elected officials need to enact policies that are good for the state as a whole, not just a very narrow band of special interest advocates."

Family Legacy - Chafee

Lincoln Chafee is the son of John Chafee, the former Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of the Navy, who was a decorated WWII and Korean War Veteran, and posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Family Legacy - Pell

Grandfather Claiborne Pell was Rhode Island's longest serving Senator, having served six terms from 1961 to 1997, whose legacy includes the Pell Grant, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A decorated coast guard lieutenant in WWII and foreign service officer, Pell's Rhode Island legacy includes the Newport Bridge being renamed the Claiborne Pell Bridge, as well as the Pell Center of International Relations and Public Policy established at Salve Regina University.

Education - Pell

Pell attended the private boarding Thacher School in California for high school, graduating in 2000. The school's noted equestrian and outdoor programs require that students ride and care for a horse during their first year. Current tuition is over $50,000

Pell, a JAG who graduated first in his class from Coast Guard Direct Commission Officer School, has a JD from Georgetown University and graduated from Harvard University with high honors in Social Studies and a Citation in Modern Standard Arabic.

Early Career -- Pell

Named to the 2011-2012 class of White House Fellows, Pell served as Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Staff prior to his appointment by President Obama as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education last April.

Wife - Chafee

Chafee's wife, Stephanie Danforth Chafee, holds a B.S. in Nursing from Boston University, an MBA from the University of Connecticut, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Rhode Island, helped found the Rhode Island Free Clinic in South Providence, and was featured as one of the ‘25 Models of Promise’ in Shirley Sagawa’s The American Way to Change.

Mrs. Chafee was a co-founder of Women Ending Hunger and has served on advisory boards for Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, the Rhode Island Zoological Society and the Rhode Island Foundation. Last April, she was recognized as one of the YWCA Rhode Island's Women of Achievement.

Wife - Pell

A decorated Olympic figure skater and world champion, Michelle Kwan went on to pursue a career in public service, serving as an American Public Diplomacy Envoy as well as on the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports -- and was recently inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.